Topics include memory failure, recall bias, classification of victimization events, sample design and coverage problems, response effects, and consequences of telephone versus in-person interviewing. The National Crime Survey, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, is a complex survey having a wide range of applications for administrators, planners, and policymakers at all levels of government and in the private sector. On a staggered schedule, a large national sample (nearly 123,000 people) is interviewed two times a year for 3 years about crimes suffered during the previous 6 months. Established in 1973, the survey is designed to measure the levels of criminal victimization of persons and households for the crimes of rape, robbery, assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny. The survey distinguishes between crimes reported to the police and those not reported to the police. The survey also collects detailed information about the victims, the crimes, and the circumstances surrounding the crimes, which can be used to predict what groups of people are more likely than others to be crime victims.
National Crime Survey - Working Papers, Volume 2 - Methodological Studies
NCJ Number
90307
Date Published
October 1984
Annotation
This volume contains a series of technical papers on methodological issues associated with the National Crime Survey (NCS).
Abstract
Date Published: October 1, 1984